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Prince Johan Friso was pulled out by rescue crews after spending 15 minutes under the snow while he was skiing off-piste in the Austrian alps, police said. He remains in the hospital's intensive care unit.
He was buried under the snow for 15-minutes though some reports say it was longer.

The 43-year old Prince was dug out by his friend and re-susitated by the rescue services at the scene before being flown by helicopter to hospital in Innsbruck.

The Austrian public prosecutor has confirmed that it wants to question the 42-year old hotelier accompanying him, who was wearing an avalanche airbag at the time of the accident.

He rescued the Prince and called in the rescue services.

The questioning is standard procedure though if thought to be at fault he could be charged under Austrian law with causing unintentional harm.

A full investigation is underway.

The announcement of his death was made on Monday in a short statement from the Dutch Royal House.
The palace stated, "Prince Friso has died of complications related to the hypoxic brain injury, which he suffered as the result of his skiing accident in Lech, Austria on 17 February 2012."